To spot the Larkin House, look on the southwest corner of Calle Principal and Jefferson Street for a cream-colored, two-story building with a flat-roofed veranda wrapping around most of it and clusters of green-trimmed doors and windows.
Alright, explorer, imagine stepping out of the busy Monterey streets and peering into a world almost two centuries in the past! Right in front of you stands the remarkable Larkin House, the legendary brainchild of Thomas O. Larkin, built all the way back in 1835. Now, if these walls could talk, they’d probably have a New England accent mixed with a bit of Spanish flair… and might just brag about being California’s very first two-story house. Yep, you heard me-nobody in California had ever seen a home this tall before Larkin came along, which might’ve made the neighbors think he built it just so he could see their gardens from above!
The story begins with Larkin himself, a Massachusetts man on the hunt for opportunity, who found himself in the heart of Monterey, the bustling capital of Alta California. Larkin wanted the cozy comforts of a New England home-but out here, the local sawmills couldn’t quite keep up. So what did he do? He invented his own solution by mixing two worlds: he built a New England-style wood frame, then smeared it with sturdy adobe, creating what we now call the Monterey Colonial style. That’s right, this house set a whole new fashion trend in architecture-move over, modern home magazines!
Picture the sounds of restless hammers, saws, and voices as carpenters wrestled with redwood and adobe, determined to finish something nobody else had. Larkin’s design meant the house could have bigger windows-and a long porch that wraps around, perfect for watching stormy California nights without getting drenched. Even the humble chimney got its moment of glory here-it’s the first one of its kind in all of California.
People walked by in awe, their footsteps crunching over gravel, whispering tales of the American consul who dared to mingle East Coast comfort with California’s rugged spirit. Today, you’re standing where history happened, in front of a home that became a National Historic Landmark, forever rooted in the story of Monterey. Now, let’s see if the next stop can top this marvel!
